Celebrity dogs enjoy Norfolk hound cake

He rose to fame as one of the best-loved waiters in British comedy and now his dogs have been served up a tasty treat created by a Norfolk woman.

Actor Andrew Sachs - who played Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers - will today appear on TV with his pets Pepsi and Lizzie, and viewers will see the canine pair tuck into a special hound cake made by dog trainer Louise Green from East Bilney, near Dereham.

Mrs Green has created the recipe - which includes pilchards and broccoli - to help the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) raise funds to help stray dogs across the world.

The idea is that people bake the cake and hold fundraising 'pet parties' for their dogs and their friends' dogs.

And after Mr Sachs' dogs gave a resounding 'paws up' to the cake it is sure to be a hit with pooches across the country.

The Fawlty Towers star, who recently trod the cobbled streets of Weatherfield as Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street, said: 'My dogs absolutely devoured the hound cake. It's good for them and they love it.'

He added: 'The WSPA has been a charity close to my heart for a long time and as a dog owner the plight of strays is an issue that is enormously important to me.'

The savoury recipe for our four-legged friends includes a special carrot cake base with a broccoli and pilchard filling, and it is topped with a potato and tomato sauce frosting with a pinch of grated carrot and broccoli. There is even an option to adapt the recipe to make muffins instead.

Mrs Green, who is in her 30s and is the founder of Helping Hounds Dog Training, was delighted to have some celebrity dogs test her cake.

She said: 'It was great meeting Andrew Sachs, I have been a fan of his for a long time and I am also thrilled that his dogs demolished the hound cake I made for them.'

She added: 'As a dog trainer I use food as a motivational tool and it is really important to me that the treats we offer our dogs have some nutritional value. While the idea of the hound cake is a bit of fun, I have made sure it is healthy and tasty for the dogs too.

'We want as many people as possible to bake the cake for their dogs. It is really simple to make and it is a good way for people to have fun with their pets.'

Mrs Green's four dogs - Bramble the Labrador, Merlot the Working Cocker Spaniel, and Border Collies Molly and Toby - were her taste testers when she was creating the recipe.

She said: 'They loved every attempt. My friends' dogs have tried it too, and every dog that has eaten the cake has done a big gobble and then it is gone.'

Mr Sachs' dogs can be seen trying the hound cake on the show Market Kitchen at 7pm today on the Good Food Channel.

The WSPA estimates that out of the 500 million dogs in the world, 75pc are strays.

To find out more about holding a fundraising pet party to help stray dogs visit www.wspa.org.uk or email fundraising@wspa.co.uk

For more information on Helping Hounds Dog Training visit www.helpinghounds.co.uk

Louise Green's Hound Cake and Muffins recipe

For the cake or muffin mixture:

225g gluten and wheat-free self raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3 medium carrots

150ml sunflower oil

50ml water

2 large free range eggs

For the cake filling:

1 tin of pilchards in tomato sauce (425g)

4 florets of raw broccoli

20 to 30ml water

For the muffin topping:

1 small tin of pilchards in tomato sauce (155g)

2 florets of raw Broccoli

10 to 15ml water

For the frosting of either:

� lb potatoes

Tomato sauce from the pilchards

Pinch of grated carrot

Pinch of grated broccoli

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180�C/Gas Mark 4 and lightly oil either your seven inch sandwich tins or your large six cup muffin pan.

2. Sieve flour and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. Grate the unpeeled carrots into the bowl keeping a small pinch back for decoration later and then add the oil, water and eggs.

3. Mix all the ingredients together and divide the moist cake mixture evenly between either your sandwich tins or your muffin pan. (If using sandwich tins make sure mixture reaches all the edges.)

4. Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for about 30 minutes for the cakes or about 35 to 40 minutes for the muffins. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the tins.

5. Boil your peeled and cut potatoes and when soft, drain off the water add the tomato sauce from the tin of pilchards, mash together and put to one side to cool slightly.

6. Prepare your filling/topping by placing the pilchards, chopped broccoli florets and water into a blender and 'blitz' into a paste.

7. Now sandwich your two cakes together with the paste spread or if you are making the muffins decorate the top centre part of each muffin with about two teaspoons of the paste keeping the edges clear for your mash frosting.

8. Decorate your cake or muffins with your mash frosting.

9. Once frosted sprinkle the top with a pinch of grated carrot and broccoli.

Gluten and wheat free self raising flour has been used in this recipe to help minimise any possible irritation to your dogs - however if you choose to you may substitute this for normal self raising flour.